Concurrence, Criminal Procedure

Tyler v. Cain

Concurrence, Criminal Procedure / By

JUSTICE O’CONNOR, concurring.

I join the Court’s opinion and write separately to explain more fully the circumstances in which a new rule is “made retroactive to cases on collateral review by the Supreme Court.” 28 U. S. C. § 2244(b)(2)(A) (1994 ed., Supp. V).

It is only through the holdings of this Court, as opposed to this Court’s dicta and as opposed to the decisions of any other court, that a new rule is “made retroactive… by the Supreme Court” within the meaning of § 2244(b)(2)(A). See ante, at 663; cf. Williams v. Taylor, 529 U. S. 362, 412 (2000). The clearest instance, of course, in which we can be said to have “made” a new rule retroactive is where we expressly have held the new rule to be retroactive in a case on collateral review and applied the rule to that case. But, as the Court recognizes, a single case that expressly holds a rule to be retroactive is not a sine qua non for the satisfaction of this statutory provision. Ante, at 666. This Court instead may “ma[k]e” a new rule retroactive through multiple holdings that logically dictate the retroactivity of the new rule. Ibid. To apply the syllogistic relationship described by JusTICE BREYER, post, at 672-673 (dissenting opinion), if we hold in Case One that a particular type of rule applies retroactively to cases on collateral review and hold in Case Two that a given rule is of that particular type, then it necessarily follows that the given rule applies retroactively to cases on collateral review. In such circumstan

Concurrence, Economic Activity

Tyler Pipe v. Wash. Dept. of Rev

Concurrence, Economic Activity / By

JUSTICE O’CONNOR, concurring.

I join the Court’s opinion holding that, “[i]n light of the facially discriminatory nature of the multiple activities exemption,” ante at 483 U. S. 244, see Maryland v. Louisiana, 451 U. S. 725, 451 U. S. 756 -757 (1981), the Washington taxpayers need not prove actual discriminatory impact “by an examination of the tax burdens imposed by other States.” Ante at 483 U. S. 247. I do not read the Court’s decision as extending the “internal consistency” test described in Armco Inc. v. Hardesty, 467 U. S. 638, 467 U. S. 644 -645 (1984), to taxes that are not facially discriminatory, contra, post at 483 U. S. 257 -258 (SCALIA, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part), nor would I agree with such a result in these cases. See American Trucking Assns., Inc. v. Scheiner, post p. 483 U. S. 298 (O’CONNOR, J., dissenting).

Byron White, Economic Activity, Harry Blackmun, Lewis Powell, Majority, Thurgood Marshall, Warren Burger, William Brennan, William Rehnquist

TWA v. Franklin Mint Corp

Byron White, Economic Activity, Harry Blackmun, Lewis Powell, Majority, Thurgood Marshall, Warren Burger, William Brennan, William Rehnquist / By

JUSTICE O’CONNOR delivered the opinion of the Court.

The question presented in this litigation is whether an air carrier’s declared liability limit of $9.07 per pound of cargo is inconsistent with the “Warsaw Convention” [ Footnote 1 ] (Convention), an international air carriage treaty that the United States has ratified. As a threshold matter we must determine whether the 1978 repeal of legislation setting an “official” price of gold in the United States renders the Convention’s gold-based liability limit unenforceable in this country. We conclude that the 1978 legislation was not intended to affect the enforceability of the Convention in the United States, and that a $9.07-per-pound liability limit is not inconsistent with the Convention.

I

In 1974, the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) informed international air carriers doing business in the United States that the minimum acceptable carrier liability limit for lost cargo would thenceforth be $9.07 per pound. Trans World Airlines, Inc. (TWA), has complied with the CAB order since that time. On March 23, 1979, Franklin Mint Corp. (Franklin Mint) delivered four packages of numismatic materials with a total weight of 714 pounds to TWA for transportation from Philadelphia to London. Franklin Mint made no special declaration of value at the time of delivery. [ Footnote 2 ] The packages were subsequently lost. Franklin Mint brought suit in United States District Court to recover damages in the amount of $250,000. The parties stipulated

Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, Byron White, John Paul Stevens, Majority, Unions, William Rehnquist

TWA v. Flight Attendants

Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, Byron White, John Paul Stevens, Majority, Unions, William Rehnquist / By

JUSTICE O’CONNOR delivered the opinion of the Court.

We decide today whether, at the end of a strike, an employer is required by the Railway Labor Act (RLA or Act), 44 Stat. 577, as amended, 45 U.S.C. § 151 et seq., to displace employees who worked during the strike in order to reinstate striking employees with greater seniority.

I

In March, 1984, Trans World Airlines, Inc. (TWA), and the Independent Federation of Flight Attendants (IFFA or Union) began negotiations pursuant to § 6 of the RLA, 45 U.S.C. § 156, on a new collective bargaining agreement to replace their prior agreement due to expire on July 31, 1984. The existing collective bargaining agreement created a complex system of bidding, the general effect of which was to insure that those flight attendants with the greatest seniority would have the best opportunity to obtain their preferred job assignments, flight schedules, and bases of operation as vacancies appeared, and to insure that senior flight attendants would be least affected by the periodic furloughs endemic to the airline industry. Thus, for example, should a job vacancy appear at the highly desirable Los Angeles or San Francisco bases of operation or “domiciles,” the most senior qualified flight attendant who bid on such a vacancy would be entitled to it. Conversely, should a reduction in force eliminate a position in the Los Angeles domicile, the furloughed flight attendant could opt to displace the most junior attendant of equal rank in the entire system

First Amendment, Partial concurrence, partial dissent

Webster v. Doe

First Amendment, Partial concurrence, partial dissent / By

JUSTICE O’CONNOR, concurring in part and dissenting in part.

I agree that the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) does not authorize judicial review of the employment decisions referred to in § 102(c) of the National Security Act of 1947. Because § 102(c) does not provide a meaningful standard for judicial review, such decisions are clearly “committed to agency discretion by law” within the meaning of the provision of the APA set forth in 5 U.S.C. § 701(a)(2). I do not understand the Court to say that the exception in § 701(a)(2) is necessarily or fully defined by reference to statutes “drawn in such broad terms that in a given case there is no law to apply.” See Citizens to Preserve Overton Park, Inc. v. Volpe, 401 U. S. 402, 401 U. S. 410 (1971), quoted ante at 599. Accordingly, I join Parts I and II of the Court’s opinion.

I disagree, however, with the Court’s conclusion that a constitutional claim challenging the validity of an employment decision covered by § 102(c) may nonetheless be brought in a federal district court. Whatever may be the exact scope of Congress’ power to close the lower federal courts to constitutional claims in other contexts, I have no doubt about its authority to do so here. The functions performed by the Central Intelligence Agency and the Director of Central Intelligence lie at the core of

the very delicate, plenary and exclusive power of the President as the sole organ of the federal government in the field of international relations.

United

Byron White, Economic Activity, Harry Blackmun, John Paul Stevens, Lewis Powell, Majority, Thurgood Marshall, Warren Burger, William Brennan, William Rehnquist

Watt v. Energy Action Educ. Foundation

Byron White, Economic Activity, Harry Blackmun, John Paul Stevens, Lewis Powell, Majority, Thurgood Marshall, Warren Burger, William Brennan, William Rehnquist / By

JUSTICE O’CONNOR delivered the opinion of the Court.

We are asked to review a decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit compelling the Secretary of the Interior to experiment with the use of certain statutorily defined bidding systems in awarding leases for oil and gas exploration and development on the Outer Continental Shelf. Because the decision below incorrectly construes the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act Amendments of 1978, 92 Stat. 629, 43 U.S.C. § 1331 et seq. (1976 ed. and Supp. III), we reverse.

I

The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of 1953 (OCS Lands Act), 67 Stat. 462, as amended, 92 Stat. 629, 43 U.S.C. § 1331 et seq. (1976 ed. and Supp. III), authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to lease tracts of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) [ Footnote 1 ] for the exploration and development of mineral resources, including oil and gas. As originally passed, the OCS Lands Act authorized the Secretary to solicit sealed bids either by fixing a royalty rate of not less than 12 1/2%, and requiring bids on the amount of an initial “cash bonus” to be paid at the time the lease was awarded, or by fixing the amount of the cash bonus, and requiring bids on the royalty rate. 43 U.S.C. § 1337(a). The OCS Lands Act vested complete discretion in the Secretary to choose between these two bidding systems. In practice, prior to 1978, virtually all tracts were leased on the basis of a fixed royalty of 16 2/3% of the gross value of production,

Attorneys, Concurrence, Harry Blackmun

Walters v. Radiation Survivors

Attorneys, Concurrence, Harry Blackmun / By

JUSTICE O’CONNOR, with whom JUSTICE BLACKMUN joins, concurring.

I join the Court’s opinion and its judgment because I agree that this Court has appellate jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1252 and that the District Court abused its discretion in issuing a nationwide preliminary injunction against enforcement of the $10 fee limitation in 38 U.S.C. § 3404(c). I also agree that the record before us is insufficient to evaluate the claims of any individuals or identifiable groups. I write separately to note that such claims remain open on remand.

The grant of appellate jurisdiction under § 1252 does not give the Court license to depart from established standards of appellate review. This Court, like other appellate courts, has always applied the “abuse of discretion” standard on review of a preliminary injunction. See, e.g., Doran v. Salem Inn, Inc., 422 U. S. 922, 422 U. S. 931 -932 (1975). As the Court explains, direct appeal of a preliminary injunction under § 1252 is appropriate in the rare case, such as this, where a district court has issued a nationwide injunction that, in practical effect, invalidates a federal law. In such circumstances, § 1252 “assure[s] an expeditious means of affirming or removing the restraint on the Federal Government’s administration of the law….” Heckler v. Edwards, 465 U. S. 870, 465 U. S. 882 (1984). See also id. at 465 U. S. 881, nn. 15 and 16 (§ 1252 is closely tied to the need to speedily resolve injunctions preventing the effectuation of Acts

Civil Rights, Dissent, Harry Blackmun

United States v. R. L. C

Civil Rights, Dissent, Harry Blackmun / By

JUSTICE O’CONNOR, with whom JUSTICE BLACKMUN joins, dissenting.

By failing to interpret 18 U. S. C. § 5037(c)(1)(B) in light of the statutory scheme of which it is a part, the Court interprets a “technical amendment” to make sweeping changes to the process and focus of juvenile sentencing. Instead, the Court should honor Congress’ clear intention to leave settled practice in juvenile sentencing undisturbed.

When Congress enacted the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, it authorized the United States Sentencing Commission (Sentencing Commission or Commission) to overhaul the discretionary system of adult sentencing. As an important aspect of this overhaul, Guidelines sentencing formalizes sentencing procedures. The Commission explains:”In pre-guidelines practice, factors relevant to sentencing were often determined in an informal fashion. The informality was to some extent explained by the fact that particular offense and offender characteristics rarely had a highly specific or required sentencing consequence. This situation will no longer exist under sentencing guidelines. The court’s resolution of disputed sentencing factors will usually have a measurable effect on the applicable punishment. More formal ity is therefore unavoidable if the sentencing process is to be accurate and fair.” United States Sentencing Commission, Guidelines Manual § 6A1.3, comment (Nov. 1991) (USSG).

Another significant change permits an appeal when the Guidelines are incorrectly applied or departed from,

Byron White, Criminal Procedure, John Paul Stevens, Lewis Powell, Majority, Warren Burger, William Rehnquist

United States v. Place

Byron White, Criminal Procedure, John Paul Stevens, Lewis Powell, Majority, Warren Burger, William Rehnquist / By

JUSTICE O’CONNOR delivered the opinion of the Court.

This case presents the issue whether the Fourth Amendment prohibits law enforcement authorities from temporarily detaining personal luggage for exposure to a trained narcotics detection dog on the basis of reasonable suspicion that the luggage contains narcotics. Given the enforcement problems associated with the detection of narcotics trafficking and the minimal intrusion that a properly limited detention would entail, we conclude that the Fourth Amendment does not prohibit such a detention. On the facts of this case, however, we hold that the police conduct exceeded the bounds of a permissible investigative detention of the luggage.

I

Respondent Raymond J. Place’s behavior aroused the suspicions of law enforcement officers as he waited in line at the Miami International Airport to purchase a ticket to New York’s La Guardia Airport. As Place proceeded to the gate for his flight, the agents approached him and requested his airline ticket and some identification. Place complied with the request and consented to a search of the two suitcases he had checked. Because his flight was about to depart, however, the agents decided not to search the luggage.

Prompted by Place’s parting remark that he had recognized that they were police, the agents inspected the address tags on the checked luggage and noted discrepancies in the two street addresses. Further investigation revealed that neither address existed, and that the telephone

Antonin Scalia, Civil Rights, Dissent, William Rehnquist

United States v. Paradise

Antonin Scalia, Civil Rights, Dissent, William Rehnquist / By

JUSTICE O’CONNOR, with whom THE CHIEF JUSTICE and JUSTICE SCALIA join, dissenting.

In Wygant v. Jackson Board of Education, 476 U. S. 267, 476 U. S. 273 (1986), we concluded that the level of Fourteenth Amendment

scrutiny does not change merely because the challenged classification operates against a group that historically has not been subject to governmental discrimination.

Thus, in evaluating the constitutionality of the District Court order in this case under the Fourteenth Amendment, we must undertake a two-part inquiry. First, we must decide whether the order is “supported by a compelling [governmental] purpose.” Ibid. Second, we must scrutinize the order to ensure that “the means chosen to accomplish that purpose are narrowly tailored.” Ibid.

One cannot read the record in this case without concluding that the Alabama Department of Public Safety had undertaken a course of action that amounted to “pervasive, systematic, and obstinate discriminatory conduct.” Ante at 480 U. S. 167. Because the Federal Government has a compelling interest in remedying past and present discrimination by the Department, the District Court unquestionably had the authority to fashion a remedy designed to end the Department’s egregious history of discrimination. In doing so, however, the District Court was obligated to fashion a remedy that was narrowly tailored to accomplish this purpose. The plurality today purports to apply strict scrutiny, and concludes that the order in this case was